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Ahmad Dhani brands world press 'stupid' over Nazi video criticism
Jakarta Globe - June 27, 2014
Dhani and three finalists from the Indonesian Idol TV show filmed a music video for Prabowo's presidential campaign in which the singers covered Queen's "We Will Rock You" with the lyrics "Who will awaken Indonesia from its misery if not us? Prabowo-Hatta!" Dhani was widely criticized for dressing up in a replica Henrich Himmler jacket and styling the video production on Nazi aesthetics with transparently violent undertones. Prabowo endorsed the video on his official Facebook page on June 20.
"Fake foreign journalists don't know the rules of journalism... Indonesian journalists you should teach them about the right to reply. Come and see me if you dare," Dhani tweeted on Friday afternoon.
"Fake foreign journalists need to be taught about the freedom of art... if I want to dress up as a pocong or kuntilanak [Indonesian ghosts]... I have the right," he wrote in another tweet.
A reporter from BeritaSatu – a sister company of the Jakarta Globe – tried to talk to Dhani at a nightclub in North Jakarta on Thursday night where he was performing, but Dhani ducked an attempt to interview him. The Jakarta Globe tried unsuccessfully to contact Dhani on Wednesday and Thursday, but was finally able to reach him on Friday.
"I deeply regret the international media articles about me," Dhani told the Globe on Friday afternoon. "They throw sh*t at me – then they hide their hands. None of them tried to contact me. I want to reiterate to the foreign [media] that I don't care about their opinion on what I wear," he added.
"They're too stupid to actually think that there is fascism in Indonesia," he said. "Too stupid. Nazi uniforms and accessories, Jewish and even devil's accessories are commonly used in Indonesia as part of fashion. I have several military uniforms from various countries, such as Italy. I wear whatever is available."
Dhani's latest comments are a curious change of heart given that he had already apologized for dressing up as Himmler in a music video for the presidential campaign of Prabowo – a former Army Special Forces (Kopassus) commander who has been accused of ordering the disappearances of student protesters in 1998 and involvement in human rights abuses in East Timor.
"I will never wear it again. I've learned my lesson," Dhani told a Globe journalist in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, earlier in the week. "This was purely about fashion and was not related to ideology – the Western media knows I am a real pluralist."
Creative force
Indonesian news magazine Tempo reported that Prabowo was scheduled to meet with Dhani on Friday, but whether this had taken place could not be confirmed at the time of writing. Former Constitutional Court justice chief Mahfud M.D. was the latest senior figure in the Prabowo campaign team to praise Dhani for his "creativity."
"What is wrong with Ahmad Dhani?" Mahfud, Prabowo's campaign manager, asked on Thursday. "Why make a fuss about it? It was very creative. If you wear a robe are you automatically a follower of Abu Jahl?" he added, drawing an illogical allusion to the enemy of the prophet Muhammad.
Mahfud said that the criticism around Dhani was being used by a section of the media that wanted to damage the credibility of Prabowo and running mate Hatta Rajasa. "It [the costume] was his form of creativity, it's fine and it did not break any law, what sanctions can you impose for that?" he told Merdeka.com.
After using the furor yesterday to paint rival presidential candidate Joko Widido as a closet communist, Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) deputy chairman Fadli Zon continued to use Dhani's regrettable Nazi affair as a sinister springboard to warn of the dangers of communism. "I have been an opponent of communism for a long time, a utopian ideology responsible for the slaughter of 100 million people," he tweeted.
Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Prabowo's brother, attempted to cool the scandal on Friday, saying that the incident was being overplayed in the press, while Prabowo himself remained silent over the affair on Friday, refusing to comment on whether an overtly Nazi-themed video had damaged his campaign to lead the world's fourth most-populous country.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ahmad-dhani-brands-world-press-stupid-nazi-video-criticism/.
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